ZTE taps eBay to sell its $80 Firefox OS phone in the US and UK

To sell its first Firefox OS smartphone in the US and UK, ZTE is turning to eBay.

In a slightly strange move, ZTE announced today that it will “soon” sell the $80 (£60) ZTE Open on eBay, where it will appear exclusively in orange. The company says the move is all about bringing the ZTE Open to more consumers.

“It is a great honor to launch the ZTE Open Firefox OS phone worldwide through eBay. ZTE is devoted to providing more options for customers globally and enabling them to live better lives via advanced technology,” ZTE vice president Dai Wenhong said in a statement.

Launched last month in Spain, Colombia, and Germany, the ZTE Open represents the first step in Mozilla’s interesting take on the smartphone operating system. Rather than rely on proprietary platform tech for its apps and operating system, Mozilla’s mobile OS relies on the web itself.